INTRODUCTION
Table of Contents
Today we look at social media platforms and the subject of trends…This is when people on the various platforms decide one thing or another (generally content) is worthy of sharing with others, and do so…
Trending means that it is going “viral,” meaning that whatever the thing is that is popular spreads seemingly in a chaotic manner across wide swaths of people across the internet and globe…Like a virus…
The subject can be almost anything…
Mainly if published content has one or more of three qualities it then potentially can go viral…
These are:
(1) The content is entertaining, or
(2) The material is educational, or lastly
(3) What you share or want to share is engaging…
Sounds simple, but there is more to it, or maybe not?
Let’s look a bit deeper to see…
TRENDING ON THE SOCIAL PLATFORMS
I saw this trending video on the subject and thought it offers some insight in a tongue-in-cheek manner to the phenomenon…
[videoframes src=”” skin=”34″ headline_text=”Trending Post…HUH?” headline_color=”#000000″ headline_size=”22″]
So it really makes one wonder what makes things trend (increase in popularity and the likes, shares, retweets, reposts, etc.) on the social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and the like…
Here are some of the things I have learned from observing this….
I have a great interest in trending subjects on the social platforms because I want to tap into the traffic angle…That is the reason I have started this thread of posts!
When you start talking about and sharing the content that others are looking at, you will get the benefit of some of that traffic. Additionally, there are other things that will help your online business…
You can build your reputation, your brand, website awareness, credibility, and over time, you will get more leads and conversions once you tap into email marketing to establish trust and then present offers to make sales…and of course profit…
This whole process can happen very fast when you tap into the trending subjects. Even if you do not add the content to your website as I am doing, by commenting, sharing, liking on the social platforms you will have success over time…
As I mentioned in the introduction, traits of content that is virally shared generally is:
(1) Educational or Informational. I follow travel trending posts on the social platforms. These can be educational or provide information, but they also have elements of the other traits, as in they are engaging and entertaining…
(2) Engaging. To gain a trend status, generally the subject or content has to allow engagement. This might be each poster adding in their own perspective (i.e. your funny interpretation, a witty play on words, etc.)
(3) Entertaining. How many cat videos have you looked at over the past year? I would guess a lot…Other popular subjects that provide entertainment are bloopers, testing of traits, kids or baby videos, etc.
EVERY content I have seen contains one or more of these elements when you analyze it…
Here are some excellent observations on what makes content go viral that comes from a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Volume 49, Issue 2 (April 2012) and authored by Jonah Berger:
(1) Bottom line is that content that is positive tends to go viral more than negative, BUT we need to break this down further…
(2) First, the best indicator for the potential for something to go viral comes from the physiological arousal the viewer or reader experiences…
(3) If there is a high level of arousal (awe, amazement, excitement, etc.) the content will likely go viral faster than negative arousal (anger, fear, resentment, anxiety, etc.)…
(4) Content that results in lower levels of arousal (i.e. deactivating, sadness) has less chance of going viral…
(5) Even if the content adds in elements of surprise, is interesting, may be practical, or has all the external drivers such as great copywriting or graphics/video, this finding generally holds true…
This is something that many people that are trying to sell you their services will not tell you…
You have to get beyond the what and how and appeal to the why of whatever content it is that you are trying to have go viral…
Check out some viral posts for yourself, the video above is moderately such a case…
The audience and life cycle of a viral post on YouTube is also much different that on Facebook…
The neat thing is that you can tap into the potential viral content that is out there as it is taking on speed and ride the sharing train to get more attention to whatever it is that you want people to see…
Now check out THIS video, which has 35 million views on Facebook (and from the site on YouTube I pulled this from 135,000 as of now!)…
[videoframes src=”” skin=”22″ headline_text=”Does This Video Evoke Emotions – See for Yourself!” headline_color=”#000000″ headline_size=”22″]
I do not want to belabor the point, but I hope you see the value in what we notice about trending subjects. Of course, the next question that arises as an online marketer is just how to leverage this trending thing for growing our business…
I am glad you asked (smile)…
HOW CAN YOU LEVERAGE TRENDS
As an online marketer, you should be jealous of the free organic traffic that published content that “trends” manages to garner for the authors…
This is the raw power of the internet you are witnessing!
More important though is how can you tap into this to get your own organic traffic? There is so much “noise” (content) posted by the minute on the internet that it can be easy to have your own voice (website, offer, words of wisdom, etc.) get lost in all the noise…
Here Are Some Of The Ways You Can Leverage Trends…
(1) Establish an area on your website where you can add curated viral posts, videos, and articles for viewing, commenting, and sharing by site visitors…
(2) Share these trending videos yourself to get your name and website out there (not to mention your social corners as well)…
(3) Use the successful ones that pertain to your niche to place ads on Facebook, Bing, and YouTube (all reasonable places to place PPC ads) to increase traffic…
(4) User tools and giveaways that leverage your ability to collect emails and names of people that come to your site…
(5) Provide further content that falls into the three elements and evokes emotional responses in your prospects, and over time gain their trust…
(6) Only THEN try to sell them something! Think about buying a house or a car…Do you buy the first time you look at one or another option? Most people do not…
CONCLUSION
Today we explored trends regarding social platforms. How can we identify them, what are the elements they contain generally, and how we can use them for our online businesses…
Although this thread of posts is intended to be a light and quick read, there are lessons that we can take away from them. This is another such case.
In a nutshell, trending content can be useful to build our name, brand, reputation, website visits, leads, conversions and profits as online marketers…
That is the lighter side of the day, I wish you all success every day and enjoy the lighter moments along your journey as well!
FINAL POINT
Please rate this short post on social platforms and trending content. If you didn’t like it, let me know! I have a star rating element at the top of this page near the title (right below and to the left side).The feedback helps me get better at my trade and it helps prospective readers decide whether or not to stick around!
The feedback you provide helps me get better at my trade and it also helps prospective readers decide whether or not to stick around! Be a mate and participate!
In that regard, if this tutorial WAS useful, entertaining, or educational, please share it with others…You will see convenient social buttons I have added on the site (top right side of this page) for you…
Lastly, please take just a couple of minutes more to add your own feedback on this post on social trending content. When we share with one another we learn and grow, one of my main focuses of this website!
Thanks in advance…
Cheers!
ABOUT DAVE:
Dave has been involved in sales for 20 years with offline products and has been fortunate to have traveled the world while realizing up to $4 million USD a month in gross sales of products he promoted.
He has brought that experience to the online world and this is one of his online ventures. This site is intended to present ideas, products, tools, tips and more that will help all those seeking to make money online have success.
Subjects covered are diverse, but in totem, you can learn a lot about the things that you will need to have success with online business right here. This includes things to do and things NOT to do!
Enjoy!